…Regions 6, 10 to be completed today

By Svetlana Marshall
TODAY, the two remaining ballot boxes from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) will be completed, paving the way for all 12 workstations at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) to be assigned to Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) as the completion of the National Recount nears.

On Wednesday, votes within 84 ballot boxes were recounted bringing the total number of ballot boxes processed to date to 2,013. As such, there remain 326 ballot boxes to be processed, of which 324 are from Region Four – the country’s largest electoral block.
Of the boxes processed on Wednesday, 40 were from Region 4 while 20 were from Region Six, and 24 from Region 10. At the current rate at which the boxes are being processed, the recount of all the votes is likely to be completed on Sunday or Monday latest.

Notably, votes cast in seven (7) of the 10 Electoral Districts have been recounted, and as such the focus now is on Regions 4, 6 and 10. All the votes from Region One (Barima-Waini), Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) have been recounted.

REGION ONE
Based on the votes recounted for Region One, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) secured 3,909 votes in the General Elections while the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) raked in 170, PPP/C 8002, People’s Republic Party 24 and the United Republican Party, six – a total number of 12,111 valid votes cast. According to statistics coming out of GECOM’s Tabulation Centre at the ACCC, there were 328 rejected ballots and 41 spoilt ballots.

In the Regional Elections, the APNU+AFC raked in 3,843 votes while LJP secured 144, the PPP/C, 7, 996 and the URP 77 votes. There were a total of 12, 060 valid votes cast by a total of 12, 440 persons who had presented themselves on March 2 to vote in Region One.

REGION TWO
Meanwhile in Region Two, the APNU+AFC secured 7,340 votes in the General Elections while the PPP/C raked in 18,785 votes. A New and United Guyana (ANUG) received 85 votes while Change Guyana (CG) 151, LJP 121, PRP 57, The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) 18 and URP 64. In total, there were 26,621 valid votes cast. For the Regional Elections, the APNU+AFC received 7,290 votes while its primary contender – the PPP/C – secured 18, 755. The smaller parties, Change Guyana (CG) raked in 216 votes while LJP secured 135 and URP 95. There was a total of 26,491 valid voters in the Regional Elections for Region Two.

REGION FIVE
In Region Five, there were a total of 33, 119 valid votes cast in the General Elections of which the APNU+AFC secured 14,502 based on the votes recounted and the PPP/C, 18,326. The remainder of the valid votes went to ANUG – 88, CG –100, PRP – 52, TCI – 22, TMN – 10 and URP – 19. Based on the tabulated figures by GECOM, there were 256 rejected ballots and 61 spoilt ballots.

In the Regional Elections for that Electoral District, there were 33,004 valid votes cast of which the PPP/C secured the highest number with 18, 286 followed by the APNU+AFC with 14, 472. The remainder of the valid votes went to CG – 127, PRP – 59 and URP – 60. There were a total of 374 rejected ballots in the Regional Elections for Region Five.

REGION SEVEN
In Cuyuni-Mazaruni District, the APNU+AFC secured the highest number of votes, securing some 4,813 votes while the PPP/C raked in 3,728 votes in the General Elections. ANUG secured 77 votes, while CG raked in 67, LJP – 884, and the URP – 23. There were a total of 9,592 valid votes cast while 164 were rejected. For the Regional Elections in Region Seven, the APNU+AFC secured 4,839 votes while the PPP/C received 3,703 votes followed by LJP with 925 votes. URP secured some 62 votes. There were a total of 9, 529 valid votes and 227 rejected ballots.

The National Recount commenced on May 6 at the Conference Centre after an Order was gazetted by the Chair of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh. Initially, the recount was set for a period of 25 days. However, the Elections Commission, last Friday, amended the Order to facilitate June 13 extension.